Mode of Program Participation
Community Organizing and Educational Programming
Participation Type
Poster
Session Title
The Role of Archival Collections in Preserving the History of West Virginia Mills and Mill Sacks
Session Abstract or Summary
This poster session presents the results of research conducted primarily for 2016 West Virginia archival community outreach programs at two nineteenth-century, West Virginia grist mills. As in other Appalachian communities, most small, wood-frame grist mills which served rural West Virginia communities are no longer in existence. According to an August 2016 Preservation Alliance of West Virginia blog post: "In 1900, there were 428 mills in West Virginia. In 1980, there were 18. Today only four remain operable..." Of the West Virginia mill buildings still standing, most no longer house equipment which was or is still used for milling agricultural products. Storage containers for milled agricultural products (such as wooden barrels and boxes, textile mill sacks (commonly known as feedsacks), and locally manufactured paper sacks) are becoming rare. How, then, can West Virginia residents learn about their community grist mills and the types of storage containers used for mill products? A surprising wealth of information exists in West Virginia archival collections which documents not only the history of West Virginia mills, but includes collections of textile feedsacks, household articles made from feedsacks, and the wooden and metal engravings used by the S. George Company in Wellsburg, W. Va. to make paper flour barrel company logos and, later, paper flour sacks. This poster session, which provides an overview of archival resources which preserve the history of West Virginia mills and mill sacks, will also include an annotated, working bibliography of archival and library resources consulted during this research.
Presentation #1 Title
The Role of Archival Collections in Preserving the History of West Virginia Mills and Mill Sacks
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
This poster session presents the results of research conducted primarily for 2016 West Virginia archival community outreach programs at two nineteenth-century, West Virginia grist mills. As in other Appalachian communities, most small, wood-frame grist mills which served rural West Virginia communities are no longer in existence. According to an August 2016 Preservation Alliance of West Virginia blog post: "In 1900, there were 428 mills in West Virginia. In 1980, there were 18. Today only four remain operable..." Of the West Virginia mill buildings still standing, most no longer house equipment which was or is still used for milling agricultural products. Storage containers for milled agricultural products (such as wooden barrels and boxes, textile mill sacks (commonly known as feedsacks), and locally manufactured paper sacks) are becoming rare. How, then, can West Virginia residents learn about their community grist mills and the types of storage containers used for mill products? A surprising wealth of information exists in West Virginia archival collections which documents not only the history of West Virginia mills, but includes collections of textile feedsacks, household articles made from feedsacks, and the wooden and metal engravings used by the S. George Company in Wellsburg, W. Va. to make paper flour barrel company logos and, later, paper flour sacks. This poster session, which provides an overview of archival resources which preserve the history of West Virginia mills and mill sacks, will also include an annotated, working bibliography of archival and library resources consulted during this research.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Anna M. Schein is Printed Ephemera Curator, West Virginia and Regional History Center, West Virginia University Libraries.
The Role of Archival Collections in Preserving the History of West Virginia Mills and Mill Sacks
This poster session presents the results of research conducted primarily for 2016 West Virginia archival community outreach programs at two nineteenth-century, West Virginia grist mills. As in other Appalachian communities, most small, wood-frame grist mills which served rural West Virginia communities are no longer in existence. According to an August 2016 Preservation Alliance of West Virginia blog post: "In 1900, there were 428 mills in West Virginia. In 1980, there were 18. Today only four remain operable..." Of the West Virginia mill buildings still standing, most no longer house equipment which was or is still used for milling agricultural products. Storage containers for milled agricultural products (such as wooden barrels and boxes, textile mill sacks (commonly known as feedsacks), and locally manufactured paper sacks) are becoming rare. How, then, can West Virginia residents learn about their community grist mills and the types of storage containers used for mill products? A surprising wealth of information exists in West Virginia archival collections which documents not only the history of West Virginia mills, but includes collections of textile feedsacks, household articles made from feedsacks, and the wooden and metal engravings used by the S. George Company in Wellsburg, W. Va. to make paper flour barrel company logos and, later, paper flour sacks. This poster session, which provides an overview of archival resources which preserve the history of West Virginia mills and mill sacks, will also include an annotated, working bibliography of archival and library resources consulted during this research.
